Hancock football reclaims the Copper Bowl
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HANCOCK -- There is something special about a rivalry-football game. Just ask first-year coach Brendan LeClaire of the Hancock Bulldogs. He had played in multiple Copper Bowls as a Hancock Bulldog a decade ago, however, Friday, he and boys won one. They defeated the Houghton Gremlins 16-10, and brought the Copper Bowl trophy back to Hancock after several years in Houghton.
"This is a great win for the program," he stated. "The boys knew the importance of the rivalry, and it feels great to win it. A good way to end the season."
The Bulldogs set the tone of the game late in the first quarter with a touchdown run by Benny Keranen. His two-yard sneak across the goal line was followed by a two-point conversion with just two minutes left in the first. It was 8-0 after one.
It would stay that way until late in the second when a fumble recovery by the Gremlins put them at first and goal. A hand off to Issac Neva was good for six. They kicked an extra point and the teams went to the locker rooms at half with the Bulldogs up 8-7.
"I told the guys that I liked what I saw and to just keep battling," LeClaire added. "If we stick to our guns, and make a successful final push, we can win this one."
Interestingly, this one did come down to the final minutes as neither team scored in the third, nor the better half of the fourth quarter. With three minutes left in the game, the Gremlins took their only lead off the game courtesy of a field goal to take a 10-8 lead.
Hancock got the ball back and was determined to not let the game get away.
"I knew at that final possession that it was going to come down to our offensive line beating their defensive front," stated LeClaire.
And he was right.
The Bulldogs entered the Gremlins’ red zone and were first-and-10 on the 9-yard line. Two plays, and seven or eight yards later, Keranen crashed the Gremlins' defensive line and scored with plenty of players on top of him. Add to that a two-point conversion, and the Bulldogs were back on top at 16-10 with less than 90 seconds to go.
While the Gremlins threatened with some long balls, the game ended with a pick-off by Hancock’s Blake Heltunen on a Gremlins' pass at around the 30-second mark. The Bulldogs' sideline erupted in pandemonium.
"The boys battled for all four quarters and till the last whistle," said LeClaire. "I am so happy for the team and couldn’t have asked for a better finish."
The Copper Bowl concluded the 2026 football campaigns for both Houghton and Hancock. The Bulldogs ended Week Nine at 4-5, while the Gremlins closed out at 2-7. Of note, the Bulldogs were 2-0 in "Copper" games this fall, as the Hancock volleyball team won the Copper Spike earlier in the week, 3-0, over Houghton.